Battle man hit with a £400 fine from Rother District Council after putting waste in a bin

Andrew Gordon, 38, of Woodhams Close, was clearing out boxes in his flat that were leftover from Christmas, and disposed of them in the bins outside Jempson’s in the Market Road car park.

After placing them in the bin on Saturday night (January 7), he received a visit from a member of the council on Monday afternoon (January 9), who showed him photographic evidence of his waste on the ground next to the bin and issued him with a fine for flytipping.

But Andrew said that the council ‘hasn’t investigated properly’ and that the issue would be resolved if the waste was collected more often.

He said: “I’ve gone back to the bins and you can see that one of my boxes is still in the bins with my address on it, and one is outside of it, so it’s clear that I did at some point put it in the bin.

“More stuff has then gone in and knocked the boxes off, and that’s why my stuff has ended up on the floor.”

“All the rubbish is literally everywhere, the stuff is coming out all over the place, it’s not an isolated incident.”

Andrew has also contacted the council to dispute the fine but has not yet received a response.

He added: “Anybody sensible trying to do fly tipping wouldn’t leave an address on there.”

A spokesperson for Rother District Council said: “It appears the fixed penalty notice was issued correctly by our contractor, National Enforcement Solutions, for a duty of care offence as the waste was not disposed of properly.

"Fixed penalty notices are only issued if there is evidence of where the waste originated from, such as a name and address.”

“If a resident feels a fixed penalty notice has been issued incorrectly, they can make a representation to NES. If a fixed penalty notice is not paid then the Council will consider whether to prosecute.

Andrew was given ‘no warning’ for the supposed offence and is frustrated that the council is ‘penalising people who are trying to do their best’.

He said: “We’re all struggling with money and then you get hit with a £400 fine when you’re trying to do the right thing.”

“I spoke to some of the local mums in the area and they said that the overflowing bins are a normal occurrence. It’s not just seasonal uplift. Adding more bins won’t solve the problem, it just needs to be collected more often is their view.”

Increased enforcement against environmental offences began last summer in response to the growing issue of fly-tipping and littering, which the council said is ‘a blight on communities across Rother’.

The council spokesperson added: “If recycling or waste bins are full, residents are reminded not to leave their waste on the ground beside the bin.

"We continue to encourage people to dispose of their waste responsibly or face on-the-spot fixed penalty notices.”